Da Nang Boys

The Da Nang Boys are a major Vietnamese-American gang based in San Francisco, California. The gang originated in the city of Da Nang in Vietnam, with Thanh Hu Viet being its first "Snakehead" (boss). The Da Nang Boys would become a powerful gang, becoming involved with human trafficking from Southeast Asia to the United States. In the years following the Vietnam War, a mass immigration of Vietnamese refugees to the USA led to the Da Nang Boys' recruitment pool growing, and the gang established itself in the China Basin and Hunters Point neighborhoods of San Francisco. In 1992, the gang attempted to make a full move from Vietnam to the USA, leading to war with the San Francisco Triads and the Loco Syndicate. The Da Nang Boys were known to be extremely violent, and they had major interests in the protection rackets. The gang war would lead to Thanh Hu Viet and several of his gangster underlings being killed by Triad ally Carl Johnson while entering the USA via a container ship in San Francisco Bay, and the gang's remnants in San Francisco would be severely weakened and reduced to a petty street gang.